September’s Star Pupil

This month’s star pupil, as chosen by Mohammed, is Chingwaza Zulu. Chingwaza was chosen by the Head Master because he came first in a reading and writing competition between 8 schools in the district this year!

Chingwaza is 13 years old and he is in grade 6. He lives in Malambo village, 2-3 km from the school. He lives with his parents and has 3 sisters and 2 brothers older than him.

Every morning, Chingwaza leaves home at 06:05 and walks to school with three of his friend from the same village. He arrives at school at 06:45. Before class begins Chingwaza and his fellow pupils help to clean the yard, the ablutions and the classroom. This is designed to build awareness of hygiene and keeping a clean environment.

At 07:00 a child from grade of 7 rings the ‘bell’, which is actually a bike rim attached to a tree by a string! Classes then begin.
Chingwaza’s classes are just in the morning from 07:00 to 13:00. When asked what his favourite subjects are, Chingwaza answers mathematics and English! “I like mathematics because in life it’s very important to know how to calculate. And English, because I admire people who speak English, I would like to be able to do the same.”

During the break time at 09:40 Chingwaza loves playing football with his friends. Football and volley ball are his favourite sports. And his favourite team? Real Madrid from Spain. If he had the chance to travel one day he would love to go in Spain and learn how to speak Spanish!

In the future, he would like to be a teacher. He is glad that he had the chance to have been taught many subjects at school and would like to offer this knowledge back. But first, Chingwaza must finish his education. After completing Grade 7 at Malimba School, he hopes to go to Jadiza Secondary school, a boarding school 3 hours from Mfuwe to join his brother and finish his grade 12. In fact, it’s quite difficult to find a school offering education up to grade 12 in the area. Many children have to leave their family for 5 years and join a school in the nearest city to complete Grade 12. Unfortunately, many families can’t afford this and children have to end school after Grade 7. This is why the head master of Malimba School would be very glad to have more classrooms and teachers in order to create an all grade school.